PRINCETON: Library exhibit focus on science

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   Princeton University has partnered with the Princeton Public Library and the New Jersey State Museum to create a mini-science exhibit that will be at the library for the next year.
   The exhibit, complete with interactive displays, focuses on “nanoscience,” the study of making very small things to improve everything from drinking water to tennis racquets. That field of inquiry is what scientists at the Princeton University Center for Complex Materials, a federally funded research center, are busy exploring.
   A component of the center’s work is education, said Daniel Steinberg, director of education and outreach. He called the library a “perfect partner” to locate the exhibit, a way to excite the public about science and the work the center is doing.
   Once the it leaves the library, the exhibit will move to the State Museum in Trenton and then end up at the university, said Sue Conlon, youth services team leader at the library.
   She said a double-aim of the exhibit is to get children excited in science and technology. Though located on the third-floor in the children’s section, the exhibit is open to the public.
   ”We’ve had a lot of younger kids and middle school kids here using it. And we’re also hoping to have school groups come through,” she said.
   Aside from the exhibit, the library is trying to spur interest in science and technology in other ways. Starting Dec. 8, there will be activities geared to appeal to children as young as first graders up to fifth graders.
   The program, called All SET, seeks to use children’s natural curiosity about things.